With all the shouts and cries from the right that we are turning the corner (so 2004) and that things are getting better with the surge, it is hard to think good things about the occupation of Iraq when our military does not have enough purple hearts to send out to its veterans. Korean War Vet Nyles Reed was approved for his medal but only received a certificate and a letter that said he could buy his own. One might ask, why didn't he get it immediately after his injury? Well when you hear this story, you would think the military would want to jump to reward this dedicated soldier.
From The Houston Chronicle:
On the day he was injured, getting a medal was the last thing on his mind. Stationed close to the front lines at Panmunjom, where peace talks were under way, Reed "was a forward observer — the one that's up on the front line directing the artillery. I had to get to the observation point."
Reed jumped in a Jeep and had started out when a 76-millimeter shell "comes in and hits right below the Jeep in the mud. And when it went off, it blew the Jeep over and threw me into the windshield, where I busted my cheek — you can see the scar — and I was bleeding like a stuck pig."
"And I could see this battalion aid station, with Navy corpsmen. So this doc, this surgeon, sewed me up and he says, 'Do you want a Purple Heart?' That's when I said, 'I haven't got time! They're waiting for me up at the front lines,'" Reed recalled. He rushed back to duty.
About three years ago, Reed said, he started thinking that it would be nice to have the Purple Heart to pass on to his two sons or daughter, or to show to his eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
First of all, this is a smack in the face to any veteran to be asked to buy their own medal, especially one that was earned by being wounded in a conflict fought for their country. Secondly. how the hell could we have run out of medals?!? If the "surge" was going so well, we should have more control over Iraq and less casualties. Instead the medals are either being handed out quicker than they can be made, or the Pentagon was careless enough not to have more being put into production. Either way, it is a shame that Nyles Reed was made to pay for his medal. It is even more of a shame that the chaos in Iraq is to blame for this type of crap.
Oh and by the way, Mr. Reed spent $42 dollars plus tax at a surplus store for the purple heart. The army should refund him his money and his time spent going to get it.
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